UCLA starts offensive line rebuild with Riley Robell

One of the Bruins main focus for the transfer portal period has been to fix the offensive line. On Monday they made a big splash and were able to receive a commitment from Riley Robell to help those efforts. We talked about Robell becoming a possible target for the Bruins when he hit the portal. One of the key things that was touched on was his familiarity with the UCLA staff that coached him at James Madison. The two main pieces of that being Bob Chesney and Dean Kennedy.

That ended up paying off in the end. Robell should immediately slot in as a starter on the UCLA offensive line. He was an All-Sun Belt performer and has two years of eligibility remaining. Giving him an opportunity to grow more after his first season with UCLA this upcoming year. It is tough for some players in a make-or-break year with only one year of eligibility. But Robell provides two and gives UCLA more stability to work around as they continue this rebuild.

Robell was the highest graded offensive lineman for James Madison last year as they made the College Football Playoff. It makes it much easier that he knows the system. So, it should be a seamless transition for him. Helping himself at a bigger school and helping UCLA fix a weakness. It is a win-win for both sides as Chesney and crew continue to get commitments from former James Madison players.

At 6’3 and 291 pounds, Robell is not the biggest, but he gets out well in space to block. UCLA has a lot of gadget players that can benefit from lineman getting to the second level and running downhill. Jaivian Thomas is a great example as one of those guys. The Bruins main focuses have been protecting Nico Iamaleava and get pressure on the opposing quarterback. They are off to a great start by snagging Robell and then also Aiden Gobaira from JMU.